Tag: following

And circumstances are forcing him to reexamine a number of elements from the plan Marchionne outlined, including the pace at which Fiat Chrysler migrates from conventional, internal combustion engines to battery-electric technology. Under Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler had been reluctant to embrace that technology. The situation hasn’t much improved, Manley said this week, noting that Fiat Chrysler can recover only 60 percent of the added cost for electrified powertrain technology. Fiat Chrysler is r

“It’s been a bumpy year,” said Manley, as he settled into a chair in a small conference room at the back of Fiat Chrysler’s auto show display.

And circumstances are forcing him to reexamine a number of elements from the plan Marchionne outlined, including the pace at which Fiat Chrysler migrates from conventional, internal combustion engines to battery-electric technology. That’s particularly the case in Europe, where diesels were expected to provide the means to meet tough new emissions and fuel economy regulations. In the wake of Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal, however, sales of those “oil burners” have been tumbling.

“Now we have to revisit our mix in terms of electrification,” said Manley, noting that the automaker likely will have to increase the speed at which it adopts hybrids, plug-ins, and pure battery-electric vehicles.

Under Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler had been reluctant to embrace that technology. At one point, the former chief executive, only half-jokingly, had asked potential customers not to buy the then-new Fiat 500e battery-electric vehicle, revealing that the automaker lost about $10,000 on each one it sold. The situation hasn’t much improved, Manley said this week, noting that Fiat Chrysler can recover only 60 percent of the added cost for electrified powertrain technology.

That’s only one element of last year’s plan that will have to be revisited, said Manley, adding, “There’ll be other changes to follow.”

“Our performance in China is really weak,” he said. Fiat Chrysler is running into a variety of issues as demand has slowed over the past year in the world’s largest automotive market.

The old Chrysler Corp. was actually the first foreign automaker to enter China in 1984, but after the disastrous collapse of DaimlerChrysler in 2007, the Asia operation went to the German side of the partnership.

It took until 2015 to launch a new manufacturing operation there, and production costs are still out of whack, according to Manley. Complicating matters, the division he ran made some fundamental mistakes in positioning Jeep to Chinese consumers — a problem it is now struggling to correct.

The biggest mistake, he said, was positioning Jeep as a “professional” brand in the years before it had a local production plant. That worked well marketing American-made products like the big Grand Cherokee in low volume. But it has backfired now that the Guangzhou plant, operated in a joint venture with China’s GAC, has opened. Mainstream customers have shown little interest in products they think are meant for Chinese elite, Manley explained.

On the whole, though, Manley was cautiously upbeat in his assessment of where FCA stands a half year into his reign. If anything, it has already gone through the painful downsizing that has gripped both of its Detroit competitors. General Motors in November announced plans to close five factories, including three assembly plants, and trim about 14,000 jobs. Ford is readying big cuts for Europe and is expected to reveal plans for a North American restructuring by mid-year.

Fiat Chrysler made most of its cuts around the time it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010, “when we were in a mode of survival,” Manley said. In sharp contrast, FCA is now adding jobs and will be opening at least one new plant, which reportedly centers around what could be a $1 billion renovation of a currently closed engine plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan. It would be used to produce two new models for the rapidly growing Jeep brand, including a three-row model that brings back the old Jeep Wagoneer nameplate.

With 178 million followers across its Chinese social media channels, the NBA also boasts the highest following of any sports league in that particular market. “Social media is a way we’ve been able to infiltrate those markets very quickly with young people in particular living on social media,” said Silver. Obviously Facebook is enormous in India and Instagram and these other services that feature the NBA to combine social media.” The NBA distributes its games and programming in 215 countries an

As revealed in CNBC’s new show “The Score,” the NBA’s Commissioner Adam Silver said “We realize the U.S. is a little less than four or five percent of the global population and we have a whole world out there that loves basketball and loves the NBA.”

According to figures produced by the NBA, over 300 million people play basketball in China, with more than double that number watching some part of its programming on television during the 2017/18 season. With 178 million followers across its Chinese social media channels, the NBA also boasts the highest following of any sports league in that particular market.

“Social media is a way we’ve been able to infiltrate those markets very quickly with young people in particular living on social media,” said Silver. “They’re following player’s individual feeds. Obviously Facebook is enormous in India and Instagram and these other services that feature the NBA to combine social media.”

The NBA distributes its games and programming in 215 countries and territories and in fifty languages. More than 30 percent of all its “NBA league pass” subscriptions are in Asia — offering fans access to on-demand content and the live streaming of games.

Boosting this popularity is digital coverage by tech firms, such as China’s Tencent and Japan’s Rakuten that have played a key role in NBA becoming a mainstay in Asian sports culture.

J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series and the Cormoran Strike mysteries, has sold over 500 million books. Rowling, now 53, didn’t turn her life around and get where she is today by abiding by conventional wisdom. At first, it appeared that the “Harry Potter” series might be dead in the water. A small British publisher, Bloomsbury, eventually took a chance on Rowling and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” appeared in print in 1997. Since, the books have been translated into 80

J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series and the Cormoran Strike mysteries, has sold over 500 million books. She was the second highest-paid author of 2018, managing to earn an astounding $54 million.

Famously, though, Rowling started out as a single mother surviving on state benefits. “I was jobless, a lone parent and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless,” she said in her 2008 Harvard commencement speech.

Rowling, now 53, didn’t turn her life around and get where she is today by abiding by conventional wisdom.

“I haven’t got 10 rules that guarantee success, although I promise I’d share them if I did,” she writes on her site, adding, “I have to say that I can’t stand lists of ‘must do’s’, whether in life or in writing. Something rebels in me when I’m told what I have to do before I’m 50, or have to buy this season, or have to write if I want to be a success.”

She forged her own path, even when that meant taking risks. “The truth is that I found success by stumbling off alone in a direction most people thought was a dead end, breaking all the 1990s shibboleths about children’s books in the process,” she writes, including the ones like “male protagonists are unfashionable. Boarding schools are anathema. No kids book should be longer than 45,000 words.”

Forget the “must do’s,” she advises, and “concentrate on the ‘you probably won’t get far withouts.'” Those include traits like discipline, resilience, humility and independence.

Though Rowling is speaking to prospective creatives, anyone can apply her underlying advice: Step outside of your comfort zone, don’t let fear of failure hold you back, and see projects through.

“Fear of failure is the saddest reason on earth not to do what you were meant to do,” she writes. “I finally found the courage to start submitting my first book to agents and publishers at a time when I felt a conspicuous failure. Only then did I decide that I was going to try this one thing that I always suspected I could do, and, if it didn’t work out, well, I’d faced worse and survived.”

At first, it appeared that the “Harry Potter” series might be dead in the water. The original manuscript, which Rowling finished in 1995, was turned down by 12 different publishers.

But she refused to give up, even though she “often feared” that every single publisher would turn her down, she wrote on Twitter in 2016:

She even pinned her first rejection letter to her kitchen wall for motivation.

A small British publisher, Bloomsbury, eventually took a chance on Rowling and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” appeared in print in 1997. It was an immediate hit and won Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards that year. Rowling’s second book of the seven-part series came out in 1998, the same year that Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the first two books.

Since, the books have been translated into 80 languages and “Harry Potter” has become the best-selling book series of all time.

To get over the fear of failure, accept that your work probably isn’t going to be perfect, Rowling writes on her site: “In writing as in life, your job is to do the best you can, improving your own inherent limitations where possible, learning as much as you can and accepting that perfect works of art are only slightly less rare than perfect human beings.”

And ask yourself one question, she adds: “Ultimately, wouldn’t you rather be the person who actually finished the project you’re dreaming about, rather than the one who talks about ‘always having wanted to?'”

In one of the more dramatic weeks in British politics, following the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement and her government’s survival of a no-confidence vote, calls are now growing for a second Brexit referendum. Political leaders from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Wales’ Plaid Cymru, the Green party and Liberal Democrats are calling on their fellow opposition party, Labour, to join them in calling for a second referendum on Brexit, known now as a “People’s Vote.” Pasca

In one of the more dramatic weeks in British politics, following the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement and her government’s survival of a no-confidence vote, calls are now growing for a second Brexit referendum.

Political leaders from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Wales’ Plaid Cymru, the Green party and Liberal Democrats are calling on their fellow opposition party, Labour, to join them in calling for a second referendum on Brexit, known now as a “People’s Vote.”

In an open letter to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn following the unsuccessful vote of no confidence which he called, and which the other opposition parties had supported, the party leaders said they were writing to “implore” him to now support their calls for “a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.”

Pascal Lamy, former World Trade Organization chief, told CNBC Thursday that he too believed a second referendum “is now an option.”

“I would not have said that six months ago and I was among those who believed that the odds of a new referendum were extremely low but I think they’re clearly higher now. But of course for such a scenario to appear there has to be a ‘stop the clock’ between the U.K. and EU.”

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, following a parliamentary defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Dow futures were 76 points higher as of 2:12 a.m. ET, indicating a 26 point rise at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also higher. Traders were digesting news that the U.K. leader had lost a vote on her Brexit deal by 230 votes, which is believed to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in British political history. Meanwh

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, following a parliamentary defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Dow futures were 76 points higher as of 2:12 a.m. ET, indicating a 26 point rise at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also higher.

Traders were digesting news that the U.K. leader had lost a vote on her Brexit deal by 230 votes, which is believed to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in British political history.

May told lawmakers that her Conservative government “will listen” following the vote and that a statement will be made in Parliament on January 21 where the prime minister is due to present a “plan B” for the withdrawal agreement.

U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who leads Britain’s Labour party, said he has tabled a motion of no confidence in the government that will be debated and voted on Wednesday. Sterling was barely changed Wednesday, trading just below the flatline versus the dollar at $1.2855.

In other political news, the partial U.S. government shutdown — the longest in history — has extended into its 26th day, as a standoff between Democrats and the Trump administration over the president’s border wall money shows no signs of being resolved any time soon.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, made its biggest ever daily net cash injection via reverse repo operations, totaling $82.73 billion. The news came after comments from the Chinese state planner and Premier Li Keqiang suggested the country would inject more stimulus amid concerns of a slowdown in economic growth.

Months after Facebook, YouTube, Apple, Twitter and other platforms banned InfoWars content, Roku seemed to do the opposite: It recently published an updated app that provided access to Alex Jones’ InfoWars videos. The app was first spotted by DigiDay and, ultimately, Roku decided to delete it following a flood of complaints and criticism. Many of the aforementioned companies had banned InfoWars five months ago for violating user terms, including policies that prohibit hate speech. But, before ch

Months after Facebook, YouTube, Apple, Twitter and other platforms banned InfoWars content, Roku seemed to do the opposite: It recently published an updated app that provided access to Alex Jones’ InfoWars videos. The app was first spotted by DigiDay and, ultimately, Roku decided to delete it following a flood of complaints and criticism.

Many of the aforementioned companies had banned InfoWars five months ago for violating user terms, including policies that prohibit hate speech. But, before changing its stance on the app, Roku told DigiDay that InfoWars hadn’t broken any policies yet, so it was free to run its content.

But there was a backlash on places like Twitter and the tech press where people questioned why Roku would allow InfoWars on its platform when so many others had found it violated terms. Roku’s developer terms prohibit apps that “harm, threaten, harass, bully, or defame any end user or constitute hate speech… contain false, irrelevant or misleading information.”

InfoWars has been known for reporting conspiracy theories, most notably that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

In an email to CNBC with the subject line “Roku / InfoWars – WE TOOK IT DOWN,” the company gave the following statement:

After the InfoWars channel became available, we heard from concerned parties and have determined that the channel should be removed from our platform. Deletion from the channel store and platform has begun and will be completed shortly.

At the time of publication two InfoWars apps, including one that appeared to be updated on Tuesday, were no longer available in the Roku Channel store.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei fired a sales director arrested in Poland on charges of conducting espionage on behalf of China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Huawei, the world’s second largest maker of smartphones, further distanced itself from the employee, Wang Weijing, by issuing a statement that he had brought the company into “disrepute.” Prior to the arrest, the employee was responsible for sales of technology to government customers in Poland, an important market for Huawei,

Huawei, the world’s second largest maker of smartphones, further distanced itself from the employee, Wang Weijing, by issuing a statement that he had brought the company into “disrepute.” It added that the employee’s actions “have no relation to the company,” and stressed that it complies with the law in all countries.

Prior to the arrest, the employee was responsible for sales of technology to government customers in Poland, an important market for Huawei, the Journal reported.

The news might serve to heighten fears in Washington that Huawei is a threat to national security. Huawei has long denied that, stating that it hasn’t been caught up in any spying allegations. Saturday’s arrest might change that.

In December, the company’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada on the request of the U.S. government, amid suspicions that she had circumvented sanctions against Iran.

The U.S. has been trying to undermine Huawei’s influence, warning about possible ties to Chinese intelligence groups and restricting access to countries’ next generation 5G networks. For its part, Huawei has said that it is owned by employees and operates independently of Beijing.

Huawei’s troubles have been playing out against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade dispute, which President Donald Trump has been attempting to negotiate with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Asia stocks mostly gained Friday amid improved investor sentiment following overnight gains on Wall Street. The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington, were higher on the day. The moves followed after officials from Washington and Beijing met for trade talks earlier this week — details about the progress were sparse. U.S. and China have halted an ongoing trade war to try and resolve sticking issues on a number of areas. “There are so

The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington, were higher on the day. The Shanghai composite was up about 0.74 percent to close around 2,553.83 while the Shenzhen composite gained 0.758 percent to about 1,313.36. The Shenzhen component also rose 0.611 percent to close around 7,474.01.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained about 0.5 percent, as of its final hour of trade.

The moves followed after officials from Washington and Beijing met for trade talks earlier this week — details about the progress were sparse. U.S. and China have halted an ongoing trade war to try and resolve sticking issues on a number of areas. Analysts who spoke to CNBC on Friday were divided whether a deal between the two economic powerhouses would be forthcoming.

“I think (U.S. President Donald) Trump wants to have a win and (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping desperately needs to have a win. So, I think they’re gonna come to some agreement … probably in the first quarter,” Andrew Collier, managing director at Orient Capital Research, told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Friday.

Collier said, however, trade frictions between Washington and Beijing are unlikely to end as “China clearly … is a threat to the United States and plus it has done many things that many countries disagree with.”

Others did not agree.

“There are some that would argue that the Trump administration needs a deal, given that they’re walking into an election cycle in 2020 … I would respectfully disagree,” James Sullivan, head of equity research ex-Japan at J.P. Morgan, said. “What the Trump administration needs to do is incite his base. A deal, by definition, means compromise. Compromise doesn’t incite.”

Shares in Asia mostly traded mixed on Friday morning following a turbulent session on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge more than 600 points at its low. The mainland Chinese markets, closely watched in relation to the Sino-U.S. trade war, were cautious in early trade. The ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.55 percent, with the sectors mostly higher. The heavily weighted financial subindex rose 1.49 percent as shares of Australia’s so-called Big Four banks saw gains. Austral

Shares in Asia mostly traded mixed on Friday morning following a turbulent session on Wall Street that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge more than 600 points at its low.

The mainland Chinese markets, closely watched in relation to the Sino-U.S. trade war, were cautious in early trade. The Shanghai composite was largely flat while the Shenzhen composite saw a 0.322 percent decline and the Shenzhen component slipped 0.380 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix index, however, both slipped around 0.6 percent in morning trade after two straight days of gains. Shares of Fast Retailing, the company behind the Uniqlo chain of apparel stores, lost their earlier gains to drop about 1.6 percent.

The moves in Japan came after the country’s central bank released its summary of opinions from its December monetary policy meeting, where it noted the “heightening” of downside risks to economic activity.

“Regarding the outlook for the global economy, risks have been tilted to the downside on the whole amid heightening uncertainties and a prevailing view that such situation will be protracted,” said the note from the Bank of Japan.

Twitter plunged nearly 12 percent on Thursday after a report from an investor group that called the company “toxic” to advertisers and investors. The Amnesty International report said that women of color were even more likely than white women to experience abuse on Twitter. In response to the Amnesty report, Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde said the following in a statement:Twitter has publicly committed to improving the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation on

Twitter plunged nearly 12 percent on Thursday after a report from an investor group that called the company “toxic” to advertisers and investors.

Citron Research, led by investor Andrew Left, wrote that Twitter is “uninvestible” and “advertisers will soon be forced to take a hard look at all sponsorships with Twitter.” The report followed the publication of an Amnesty International investigation earlier this week, which found that women are sent abusive messages on the platform every 30 seconds.

Left said in March that he was short Twitter, meaning he was betting on a decline in the stock price, but it’s unclear from Thursday’s report if he still has that position. The firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Citron warned that consumers are willing to boycott brands when they see issues of sexism and racism surface.

The Amnesty International report said that women of color were even more likely than white women to experience abuse on Twitter. According to the study, black and Asian women as well as Latinas and those of mixed race were 34 percent more likely to be mentioned in problematic or abusive tweets. Black women, in particular, were 84 percent more likely than white women to be mentioned, and abuse was directed at those across the political spectrum, the study said.

In response to the Amnesty report, Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde said the following in a statement:

Twitter has publicly committed to improving the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation on our service. Twitter’s health is measured by how we help encourage more healthy debate, conversations, and critical thinking. Conversely, abuse, malicious automation, and manipulation detract from the health of Twitter. We are committed to holding ourselves publicly accountable towards progress in this regard.

Twitter pointed to the same statement when asked for comment about the Citron report.

Citron said Twitter should be facing the same level of criticism as Facebook, which has plunged of late and dropped again on Wednesday after the New York Times reported that the company had shared sensitive user data with big partners like Amazon and Spotify.

“As an investor, if you dislike Facebook you must absolutely HATE Twitter,” Citron wrote.

Twitter shares fell $3.88, or 12 percent, to $29.05 as of mid-day on Thursday.